


The Mandalorian Jedi

by mindofbooks



Series: Rhea Keldau [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Divergence - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), F/F, F/M, Post-Star Wars Prequel Trilogy & Pre-Star Wars: Original Trilogy, References to Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), The Mandalorian (TV) References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindofbooks/pseuds/mindofbooks
Summary: Rhea Keldau, first she was Mandalorian but then her parents died and things went wrong, things that led to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker taking her to the Jedi Temple to be trained, things that forced her to live longer than everyone she loved. She was a sister to the clone wars trio, she loved them, she tried to save them and she did, she got so close every time but in the end the story must continue and you must decide whether you ride along with it or are left in the dust. She started as a ten year old, fighting to survive alongside side a boy her age and his master, who knows where she will end up but in the end there has only been one constant being in her life since she arrived at the Jedi Temple and she isn’t about to let the little green guy go, not yet anyway.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Rhea Keldau [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150994
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter One

I jerked up, gasping for air. The nightmares had returned. I had hoped they wouldn't, that a year was long enough but apparently it wasn't. 

The mdinight air was cold and I huddled into the warmth of my one blanket. As usual the streets of Coruscant were bustling and as usual everyone ignored the 10 year old girl curled up on the side of the street. A little R2 unit rolled past, whistling cheerfully, following behind him was a young boy, my age maybe a little older. His face was serious as he told the droid to stop and wait for him. He was wearing brown robes and around his waist hung the hilt of a sword. A jedi I realised, what was a young Jedi doing out in the streets of Coruscant? The boy stopped a few metres away from me and looked around frowning and muttering to himself before calling out,  
"Master Obi-Wan, I think we are near. I can feel it!" An older man walked up to the boy, he too wore Jedi robes and gave the boy a pat on the shoulder,  
"Well done my young padawan, now, we can't be far. Remember, we do not know who or what this is, for all we know it could be a Sith Lord."  
"A Sith Lord!? Just because it is powerful that surely doesn't mean it's evil."  
"I was joking Anakin, of course it is not a Sith Lord, you would not be with me if it was."

I coughed slightly and the two Jedi whirled around, hands on their lightsabers and I smiled awkwardly, "Is there anything I can help you with? I know the area quite well, I could help you if you are searching for someone..." I trailed off wincing slightly, it was best not to attract attention in these areas, to be honest I had no idea why I had drawn attention to myself but something about them seemed... important.  
"Thank you..."  
"Rhea, Rhea Keldau." The older Jedi, Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow,  
"You are Mandalorian?" I gave a tight smile, ignoring the pain that the word brought with it,  
"My parents were. I am not."  
"I am sorry for your loss." I gave a sharp nod of thanks and turned, slightly awkwardly, to walk away into the crowd but I felt a small hand on my shoulder and turned back around,  
"Hey, you know maybe we could use some help, we've been out here for _hours_ and found nothing." The boy, Anakin gave me a lopsided smile and I grinned, ignoring the annoyed and slightly exasperated look the master gave his padawan. 

"So what are you looking for?"  
"There have been several reports of someone causing havoc in and around this area and we were sent to look into it because they've been using uh... kinda magical powers..." I rolled my eyes and said,  
"The force isn't magical powers," Anakin looked slightly surprised about the fact that I knew what the force was so I smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "My parents were Mandalorian, remember? I know a lot about the Jedi. Anyway so you are looking for some incredibly powerful force user and you are going to train them?" Obi-Wan nodded slightly and said,  
"Something like that." I thought for a moment and then pointed down the street to where a whole bunch of extremely dangerous looking people sat around drinking spotchka and singing songs,  
"You might want to try with Ziro the Hutt if you haven't already, he likes to keep a nice supply of fighters and whatnot for entertainment, I can introduce you if you want."  
"You know Ziro?" I couldn't tell if the Jedi Knight was impressed or concerned by that little fact but I nodded and said,  
"My parents worked for the Hutt's before... everything and he makes sure I am vaguely alive so that I can one day serve him as efficiently as my parents did, if I need something he makes sure I get it in some capacity." Both Jedi stayed silent at that but motioned for me to lead the way to the luminescent Hutt.

**I've wanted to write this for a while but the utter emotional hell that was the season finale of The Mandalorian kicked me into doing, I hope whoever reads this enjoys it and I cannot wait to see where this story takes us.**

**Xx**


	2. Chapter Two

Ziro lay on his dais, grumbling in his high pitched voice about one of many things that had bothered him in the past hour but he turned when I entered the hall, followed closely by the Jedi and their droid,  
"Rhea my dear! Who have you brought with you this time lovely?" I seriously thought about strangling him there and then but an untrained 10 year old wasn't going to get anywhere against an enormous slug in a room full of professional bounty hunters, that was just asking for trouble.  
"They are Jedi, Master Ziro, they are searching for someone of great importance and are willing to pay a handsome fee in return for information of this persons whereabouts." I could feel Obi-Wan glaring into my back and I gave him a sharp look over my shoulder warning him not to speak.  
"Well, well young Jedi, the amount of information I can... provide you with, depends on how handsome this fee really is."  
"We are looking for a force user of great talent, they have been causing quite a bit of trouble if our sources are correct, young Rhea here thought you may know something of them." The Jedi Knight spoke calmly but I could see his hand leaning towards the lightsaber sitting on his hip. Anakin obviously wasn't big into this kind of thing as he was grasping his lightsaber and glaring at anyone who looked towards him and next to him the droid was rocking back and forth beeping and whistling, I gave both of them a light kick and turned back to Ziro who was just about to kick off into one of his long, mindless montages.

"I see your problem, Jedi and I do of course know who you are searching for but it will come with a heavy price. I want the droid. I hear he holds many... interesting secrets." Anakin and Obi-Wan shared an alarmed look and then the older of the two nodded and graciously said,  
"Of course, now tell us where they are." He gave the R2 unit a slight push and the droid rolled forwards, beeping dramatically as he went,  
"But Master-" the boy was obviously upset at the thought of abandoning the droid but his master turned and glared at him,  
"Anakin, quiet. Why don't you take Rhea and wait outside?" Anakin opened his mouth again but I grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

He kept his lightsaber in his hand as we stood against the wall waiting. Several bounty hunters looked our way but most quickly turned in the other direction when they saw the lightsabers deadly glow as it hummed in the darkening night.  
"I'm sure it's okay, if the droid is that important I doubt your Master will just let them take him." Anakin almost looked surprised that I was still there but he smiled and held out his hand,  
"Thank you, I realise I have not properly introduced myself, I'm Anakin Skywalker, Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi." He sounded so proud that I just smiled and shook his hand slightly awkwardly.

For the first time I properly looked at the young boy standing next to me, he had bright blue eyes and his blonde hair was cut relatively short and a long braid of hair grew just behind his ear, representing his role of padawan, he looked very young to be a padawan but who was I to judge? I'd never actually met a proper Jedi.

A sudden clash sounded from inside and Anakin sighed, "Well I guess he isn't letting R2 go after all, I better go help him."  
"Uh, Anakin I think you might want to stay out here..." He turned to face the onslaught of bounty hunters that had suddenly started advancing on us,  
"Yeah... I might want to do that. Get behind me." His lightsaber was moving before the first one got a chance to breathe and I couldn't help but gasp at the smooth, if slightly staggered, motions as he flowed from one bounty hunter to another, cutting them down but not killing them. If a ten year old could do this then I didn't know if I wanted to see what a fully grown Jedi could do with the intense training they all went through.

One bounty hunter got past the raging storm that was Anakin and came up to me, he laughed lightly and smirked, I backed away as far as I could but soon ran into the wall. His breath stank and I involuntarily turned my head away, closing my eyes. I felt, rather than saw the knife that he held to my throat and something clicked inside me, what it was I didn't know but the hunter went flying backwards, landing with a loud crack at Obi-Wan's feet. I stood there gasping for air, staring up at the Jedi who just looked at me and said, "So it's true."

**This took a long time to write but I hope you enjoyed it and I have some fun stuff planned which will mean a rewatch of the prequel trilogy and some of clone wars which will be fun heh ******

********

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**Thank you for reading it means the world Xx ******


	3. Chapter Three

"What's true?" The confusion in my voice was apparent but I looked around and saw several people staring at us and said, "wait before you tell me you should put your Jetii'kad away, it's drawing too much attention." Obi-Wan, who obviously understood some Mando'a clipped his lightsaber to his belt but Anakin turned to me, confused,  
"Jetii'kad?"  
"Your lightsaber, sorry Mando'a is my first language and when I'm tired I generally accidentally use words from my native tongue." Anakin smiled and said,  
"Huh you'll have to teach me to speak it some time, if that's, you know okay with your culture and everything." I shrugged and couldn't help a little smile at the thought that I would know him long enough to teach him another language but Obi-Wan was waiting to talk so I turned back to him.

"Ziro told me who the force user was before he decided to take R2 away and take all the information out of him to sell to the highest bidder. Anyway he told me you were that force user and that he had been keeping you around because a force user of your ability could provide a useful asset in his world, I did not believe him but what you just did, even Anakin can not do that and he has the highest midi-chlorian count in history." The world had frozen and I'd stopped processing his words, how could I use the force? My parents were Mandalorian, they were the Jedi's greatest enemies. It wouldn't... it wouldn't work. Obi-Wan let me work through it for a bit before he put a hand on my shoulder and said,  
"Why don't you come back to the Jedi Temple with us? It's more comfortable than the streets and we can test you for your midi-chlorian count. I nodded dumbly, not entirely sure what to think.

The Temple was enormous, I'd seen it in the distance many many times over the past year, it was hard to miss, but up close the towering columns of the gently sloping building were utterly magnificent. A few Jedi nodded in greeting and more than one, mainly younger, outright stared. I didn't blame them, it couldn't be often a Jedi Knight and his padawan brought a young girl off the streets of Coruscant although I would not be surprised if it had happened before. The Jedi in question led me up into one of the four towers, his padawan following closely behind. At some point R2 wheeled off, presumably to get some repairs, he was slightly dented after being whacked around by bounty hunters. We stopped outside a pair of grand doubly doors and Obi-Wan turned to his apprentice, "Anakin why don't you go back to your dormitory?"  
"But Master, I helped so shouldn't I come with you?"  
"Anakin. Go. Maybe tell the droids to start preparing a chamber for Rhea." The frustration in his voice made it clear that this was a regular occurrence and I couldn't help but smile slightly. The boy huffed and turned away, walking own the hallway, albeit it very loudly. Obi-Wan shook his head and muttered something under his breath before gesturing me into the room.

The entire council was present, there were a few holographic images but nonetheless they were there. I had expected there to only be a few but 12 Jedi of all different species, and I would assume age had gathered together to see what all the fuss was about. It made me rather uncomfortable and I did not miss the eyebrows raised in Obi-Wan's direction.   
"This is the one causing all the trouble?" A tall, dark skinned man wearing brown robes of varying colours spoke up running his gaze over me in slight disbelief.  
"Yes, Master Windu. Ziro the Hutt was keeping hold of her, she has displayed extreme talent when it comes to the force and I do believe that in the events where she has caused such chaos she has lost control, unknowingly, of the force which has resulted in her passing out and forgetting the event. Her parents were Mandalorian."  
"Hmm yes, strong with the force is she. Train her we must. What is your name youngling?" The person who spoke was tiny. And green. If I was being honest he looked a bit like a goblin but he was obviously respected.  
"Rhea, Rhea Keldau Master." I couldn't help the slight shake in my voice, after all I had been raised on stories of the villainy of the Jedi, not that I particularly believed them. But still.  
"You are of Clan Keldau?" Master Windu spoke up again and I nodded, "Clan Keldau has been known to hold some force sensitive children in the past but never more than that and they generally... take care of them before their talent can be truly assessed." I didn't even want to think what that meant,  
"My parents left with me when I was still a baby, that could be why." I don't know why I said it but the small green guy nodded, clearly thinking. After a while he said,  
"Test her in the morning I shall, though old she is her talent left untrained it cannot." Obi-Wan bowed,  
"Of course Master Yoda. I'm sure I can find space for her to stay for tonight, perhaps Anakin may be willing to share his room." Master Windu smiled wryly at that but nodded at the door, an indication for us to leave. I followed Obi-Wan's lead and bowed as we left the room.

**Thank you so much for all the support! If I have got anything wrong please do tell me, I've been doing quite a bit of research to get things correct but if there is anything off do feel free to mention it Xx ******


	4. Chapter Four

Padawan's each had a small room consisting of a simple bed, a drawer and a small bathroom. Apparently most only lived in those rooms for a few years as they participated in more group sessions and such but as they got older some moved into an apartment that they shared with their Master to make it easier for them to find each other and go on missions and such. Anakin had yet to decide if he was going to move to a shared apartment with Obi-Wan but his master found it a probability seeing as they were more likely to go on missions given Anakin's power with the force.

Anakin was lying on his bed looking slightly fed up when we entered, in the corner was a large, round object that looked suspiciously like R2 but I decided not to point it out.  
"Anakin, Rhea will be staying here for tonight. Yoda will test her abilities in the morning, there's an extra mattress under the bed which you can put on the floor for her." Anakin sat up, stretching as he did so,  
"Finally some company that doesn't bore me to death on the rules of force manipulation."  
"Those rules are very important Anakin Skywalker," Obi-Wan sighed as Anakin rolled his eyes and silently repeated his masters words, "Just don't snore my young apprentice. I'm sure Rhea wants to be awake for her meeting tomorrow."  
"Yes Master Obi-Wan." I couldn't help but laugh when Obi-Wan left the room. Anakin grinned and peered under his bed, dragging out a mattress,  
"Huh I never knew that was there." I helped him pull it out and awkwardly lay it on the floor, it took up what little space remained in the room and I collapsed down onto it,  
"I think R2 might be getting a bit cramped over in the corner." A disgruntled beeping sounded from the corner, voicing its agreement. I smiled and stood up pulling the blanket off the droid who somehow managed to look incredibly annoyed. I patted his head and said to Anakin,   
"You do realise Obi-Wan probably knew he was here don't you?"  
"Yes," Anakin sighed, "Anyway you have a language to teach me and we have a few hours before we absolutely have to go to sleep." He came down to sit beside me, resting his back against his bed.  
"You do realise that it will take more than a few hours to teach you a language and I've forgotten quite a bit, right?" He nodded and I thought for a moment,  
"Well you already know Jetii'kad, lightsaber, so there is Jetii which is Jedi, and Kad is saber. Uh Jetiise is the plural of Jetii and can also mean the Republic, dar'jetii literally means no longer a Jedi, so basically Sith. Coruscanta is Coruscant." I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking, "There's a kov'nyn which is a headbutt, overtime it has developed into a sign of affection among Mandalorians and has become a Keldabe Kiss. The Mand'alor is the ruler of Manda'yaim, what you call the planet of Mandalore. Obi-Wan is, from what I can tell, like an ori'vod, essentially a big brother, or a special friend. Basically you are very close."  
Anakin began repeating the words I had spoken, how he remembered them all I had no idea but he did,  
"Jetii'kad, Jetii, Kad, Jetiise, dar'jetii, Coruscanta, kov'nyn, Mand'alor, Manda'yaim, ori'vod." He grinned, "Nice, it's a very beautiful language."  
"It is, anyway we should probably get R2 out of here before someone sees him missing." We helped the little droid over the mattress and out the door, pushing him down the corridor and quickly shutting the door again. The droid wasn't too happy about it but from what I could tell he was never too happy about anything.

It took me a while to go to sleep, probably because Anakin started snoring lightly. He was tossing and turning, muttering under his breath and I hoped he wasn't dreaming up something to horrible.

**I just wanna put it out there that I cannot find accurate descriptions of certain places and how certain things work because as far as I can find they have never been seen on screens or in video games or in books but I am trying so please give me a little leniency on how padawan training goes and their rooms and relationships and such, thank you Xx ******

******Also any thoughts on her lightsaber colour? I'm thinking either purple, blue or white but let me know what you think ******** **


	5. Chapter Five

The room Obi-Wan led me to was small, no furnishings, it was simple, plain, bare. Nothing that could be in any way distracting. Master Yoda and Master Windu where waiting when we arrived, Obi-Wan bowed slightly and I did the same, not wanting to accidentally disrespect someone. Master Windu motioned for me to sit down on the floor next to where they both sat, cross legged and then nodded towards the door, a signal for Obi-Wan to leave. The Knight gave me a comforting smile and bowed before leaving the room.

"Welcome Rhea. We just want to give you a simple test to see how strong you are, it will help us determine whether we can train you and if so, who your master will be," I swallowed slightly and gave a quick, sharp nod, "now, close your eyes and relax, let the world fade away and try to reach out, sense your surroundings, the building, the people, perhaps even their thoughts."

It probably should have been hard but it wasn't. Not in the slightest, "Master Obi-Wan is waiting out in the corridor, he is worried about me not doing well, I think he wonders whether he would be allowed to have two padawans," I let my senses stretch out further until they found Anakin, "Anakin is studying in the library with other padawans, he is being told off for playing with his lightsaber near the ancient texts," I smiled slightly and nearly opened my eyes but then I felt something, I couldn't tell if it was a thought from one of the masters in the room with me or my mind touching some secret place but I felt something, a presence that was covered in secrecy, "There is something here, in this temple... hidden. I- I think it's a child, a baby..." I opened my eyes, breathing hard. Master Yoda and Master Windu were staring at me, the shock plain on their faces. They looked at one another and then back at me, "That- that should not be possible. You should not be able to sense that." Master Windu sounded confused, angry, astonished, I couldn't quite tell. Master Yoda responded to him,  
"Sensed him she has, so possible it must be," the small green Jedi turned to look at me, "the one you sense, very powerful he is. Known only by a few his existence is, a secret you must keep this. Even from your friends. If found he is, catastrophic the consequences would be." He sounded so serious, even with his back to front speaking I understood him perfectly. If anyone found out about this child other than those who were meant to know then terrible things would happen. I didn't know why this child was so important but I understood and respected Yoda enough to take the matter seriously.

We all stood up and went out into the hallway where, as I'd said, Obi-Wan was waiting. Before he even opened his mouth Master Windu said,  
"You will not take on another padawan Master Kenobi, it is against the code and frankly we can all agree you have your hands... full as it is, I will be taking young Rhea on as my apprentice." I looked up at Master Windu in surprise and Obi-Wan looked equally as shocked but Master Yoda was nodding along in agreement,  
"Old she is, oldest to ever become part of the Jedi order but make an exception we must for is she remains untrained..." he trailed off and for some reason that scared me, he didn't seem like the sort of person to leave a sentence unfinished, "Come with me you will young Rhea, something to show you I have." We left Obi-Wan and Master Windu standing in the corridor and I could hear their murmurs fading out behind me as the elderly Jedi Master led me through a maze of corridors, we ran into few people and as we went on they became darker, more unused. Secret.

Finally we came to a small, discreet door, hidden deep within the building, Master Yoda closed his eyes, concentrating and the door clicked open revealing a surprisingly large room.

In one corner lay a cradle that hovered a few feet above the floor, the floor around it was littered with toys, baby toys I realised. A few had seemingly been smashed into the wall and were badly cracked or even missing limbs in some cases. Master Yoda gestured me over to the floating cradle and when I looked inside I saw possibly the most adorable child I had ever seen and ever would see. The child was of Yoda's species as far as I could tell, tiny, and with ears much too large for his body. He looked barely more than a few months old but I could tell he was much older than that.

"The child you sensed this is, of my species and the most powerful force user he is, if captured destroy the galaxy he could." It seemed impossible that a baby could hold so much power but I did not doubt it for one second, not when I saw the broken toys scattered across the floor,  
"What is his name?" I asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping child,  
"Grogu his name is, Grogu. The same age as you he is. Known only by the Jedi Masters his existence is, and the droid, R2D2. Find yourself lonely or bored you do then come here you can, likes to play he does. Tell anyone of him you must not. Clear is that?" I nodded uttering a soft, yes as I gazed at the little green kid with his enormous ears and button nose.

"Come Rhea, rest you must for tomorrow learn the basics you will and in a month construct a lightsaber you will and begin your training with Jedi Master Mace Windu." I tried not to look surprised, that was my constant emotion at that time, it all happened so quickly, I wasn't entirely sure I was ready to suddenly become a member of the Jedi Order, training under a member of the council.

**Ok for the stories sake let's ignore the fact that they did not test her midi-chlorian count because that would be boring and less dramatic.  
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for what her lightsaber should look like please say, I'm thinking of somehow incorporating a mythosaur pendant into it like the one Din Djarin gives to Grogu as a callback to her Mandalorian heritage, possibly a reason Grogu was so attracted to Din's necklace? Idk. Also I'm thinking a very light purple colour for her lightsaber, kind of a mix between Mace Windu and Ahsoka Tano's lightsabers. Let me know what you think. ******

******As always thank you for reading Xx ******** **


	6. Chapter Six

"Why do I have to wait a month before becoming Master WIndu's padawan?" Obi-Wan had picked me up from where Master Yoda had left me in the library and we were walking back towards my new room, "I mean you are taking me to the padawan dormitories right?"   
"You are going to be given a very quick basic learning in lightsaber combat and the force among other things, all younglings learn it along with at least a language or two and the next class of younglings to make lightsabers finish in a month so it only makes sense for you to go with them, Master Windu is known for pushing his padawans hard and he expects a lot out of them so basic learning will stop him from having to teach you everything." I nodded and we walked in silence the rest of the way.

Obi-Wan had managed to get me the room next to Anakin saying he thought I would be more comfortable there instead of with people I didn't know, not that I knew Anakin well but at least I'd met him.

And so it began. Every day I woke up and greeted Anakin as he went off to train with so Obi-Wan and joined the younglings, sometimes in the library where Master Jocasta constantly told me to be quiet when I breathed to loudly which of course led me to breathing extremely loudly much to her annoyance and the other members of my class' amusement, other times I was with Master Yoda learning how to wield a lightsaber, I caught up relatively quickly but I was not nearly as good as some of the others who had been doing it since they were toddlers. I didn't not get along with the younglings but I didn't exactly get along with them either. Apparently only training for a month and then getting to become a padawan and Mace Windu's padawan at that was something of a novelty and a source of endless whispering which of course led me to just hang out with Anakin more.

We grew close and he taught me quite a bit about droids which annoyed R2 to no end but it was useful and I continued teaching him bits and pieces of Mando'a and in return he taught me bits a pieces of the languages he had been learning. I also got an entire introduction to Padmé Amidala, Queen of Naboo, without actually ever meeting her. Anakin was completely infatuated and could go on and on for hours about how pretty and clever and amazing and gorgeous and pretty and clever.... it was endless but it was nice to see he had some friends outside of the Jedi Order. Not that he had many within the order.

Master Windu came around once a day to... I don't know what he was doing maybe getting to know me? Anyway we talked about random stuff, he told me about missions he had been on with his previous padawan who was now a Jedi Master on the council and I told him about Mandalore... or what I could remember of it. He gave me some basic lessons in different forms of lightsaber combat which he technically wasn't allowed to do but I don't think that particularly phased him. His lightsaber is a really awesome purple colour which is apparently super rare because it means it's user mixes dark and light side techniques which is unorthodox but I think it's super cool. Master Windu also went into the process of making a lightsaber which just got me more excited, it involves lots of meditating though which didn't sound fun.

Finally after what felt like years Obi-Wan finally came by to tell me that we were going to tomorrow, I couldn't help the grin and Anakin let out a little whoop of joy and gave me a massive hug. Obi-Wan patted me on the back and left us to our celebrating, not that it was a big thing to celebrate but it felt like an achievement nonetheless.

**Ok so lightsabers. I think I'm going to go with a white saber that's not actually white because that would involve finding a red crystal so it is a very light purple and at some point she will get another saber that can join with the current one so she can have dual lightsabers, a double lightsaber or just use one because that would be really cool. This is all just building up to the movies and essentially the Mandalorian so I am going to several relatively large time jumps as I'm finding quite hard to write about padawans and stuff as there is not a lot of stuff on it so I will mainly be incorporating into movies and tv series Xx ******


	7. Chapter Seven

The Crystal Caves of Ilum were quiet. So quiet it was overwhelming, I could feel nothing. See no one. Hear little but the sound of my own feet as I walked through the cave, or maybe I was running, I couldn't tell but I was completely alone. No one was there to guide me. No one was there to calm me. Master Windu had told me this would happen, that I would have to overcome my greatest fear if I was to find my crystal, I'd been ready to dodge around hologramatic spiders or something, not this unending silence, so quiet it was almost deafeningly loud. Rational thought told me I was not alone, that there were others near me searching for their crystal, facing their fears but rational thought had stopped transmitting to my brain the second I stepped into that darkness.

I could have been walking for hours, days and I wouldn't have been able to tell but in the end I forced myself to stop. To sit down and gulp down breaths and close my eyes. I pushed that unbearable silence away and focused on the sound of my breathing, letting my mind reach out. I could feel every crack and corner, every crystal until I felt something, a small light at the back of my mind. I kept my eyes closed, kept focusing on the sounds that I could here and followed that light, twisting around pathways, letting the force guide me through the winding passages until I found that light. Only then did I open my eyes.

Not one but two crystals lay in front of me, their glow lighting up the entire cavern, crystals were everywhere, dim and silent unlike the two that thrummed in front of me, side by side. I had only expected to find one as I had been told I would but here I was, two crystals glowing bright and clear.

Only one other youngling had returned when I came back to the entrance of the cave, I didn't know her name, only that Master Plo-Koon had taken her on as his padawan which everyone found to be rather impressive. Master Windu was waiting there, having a discussion with a Jedi Knight who had accompanied us but he turned when he sensed me leaving the cave, "Did you find your crystal?" I nodded and opened my hand, showing the two crystals laying there, my master raised an eyebrow in question and I quickly said,   
"They were both glowing so..."   
"Hm, that is very rare indeed, but then again you are a rare child," I couldn't help a small smile at what I assumed to be a compliment and Master Windu continued, "You have shown yourself to be an accomplished fighter even though you have trained for so little time, there are two routes you can go down, either your lightsaber can hold both crystals, making it very powerful or you could perhaps wield a double saber or a dual saber, we shall provide you with the parts for both and you can see where the force guides you." I nodded slightly and he turned away to talk to the Jedi Knight again.

The other girl approached me slowly and stuck out a hand, "I'm Norah" she was a Zabrak I realised, her hair was a reddish brown that flowed down her back and the horns that identified her species showed up on either side of her head, peaking through the thick hair, three horns sat on her brow, peppered with several smaller ones in between and an intricate tattoo weaved between them, disappearing in and out of her hair. I stuck out my hand to shake hers and she grinned,  
"I'm Rhea."  
"Oh I know," I raised an eyebrow, copying my masters questioning look, "you are the talk of the temple, Master Windu hasn't taken on a padawan in years and he is one of the most senior Jedi, only just behind Master Yoda himself, oh and you are Mandalorian and just to top it all off you are good friends with Anakin Skywalker who is one of the most powerful Jedi and he's still a padawan." I couldn't think of anything to say but,  
"Huh." Thankfully Norah seemed to have a lot to say and she carried on talking,  
"Do you have any idea how you are going to personalise your lightsaber? They give us all the parts but most Jedi put something sentimental into theirs, for me my grandfathers born was once chopped off by a lightsaber so I'm going to try and incorporate it into mine, he would be tossing in his grave but it will be nice to have something of him with me." I couldn't help a slight grin at that,  
"Well that certainly seems ironic. I haven't really thought about it that much, I thought I decide when we made them."  
"Well I mean there's always your necklace," My hand jumped to my throat, to the chain that hung there and disappeared beneath my clothes, "Sorry if that was the wrong thing to say but it's a Mandalorian pendant right? It would be like having a piece of your history more permanently with you, as long as you didn't lose the saber." I nodded sharply, swallowing slightly, how she knew what it was I didn't know, the mythosaur pendant had been the last gift my parents gave me, proof that I was Mandalorian if ever I needed help from one. In all honesty the thought of losing it made me uncomfortable and it would be more permanent in a lightsaber but from what I could tell Jedi had a tendency to lose their weapons, but then again Mandalorians didn't and I was Mandalorian.

**Ok so next chapter she will construct the lightsaber and I may do a few chapters on her as a padawan but I am tempted to skip forwards to Attack of the Clones just to make it easier and then possibly come back and add more chapters once I have a better idea on what being a padawan is like, I am only on season 2 of the clone wars and that seems to be the best guidance for that sort of thing so I will get a move on with that. **  
 **If I got anything wrong I'm sorry and please do tell me, I know Plo-Koon already had a padawan but as far as I can tell the padawan's name, gender or species are never specified so I am taking liberty of that but I do apologise if the timing is off or anything, I am trying my best Xx **********


	8. Chapter Eight

I had carefully laid out everything in front of me, just as Master Windu has instructed, in the precise places that would let my lightsaber form a connection. I had been left alone in a plain room, nothing too distracting and built to help with what could be days of meditation. I kept thinking about what Norah had said, about the mythosaur necklace that hung at my throat. I sat there for a good few minutes thinking and then, slowly as if any movement could somehow break the peaceful silence of the room, so unlike that silence in the caves, I unhooked the chain from my neck and placed it in my hand, gently touching the metal skull of the mythosaur and then ever so carefully I lifted it off the chain, letting the force guide it into a position amongst the metals that would make up my lightsaber.

I must have sat there for hours, contemplating those pieces of metal, trying to calm the raging storm in my mind. Eventually I stopped thinking. I stopped doing anything, I didn't let myself worry, I let some ancient part of my mind do the work for me. Let it shape the pieces in front of me. I did not look as it shaped my weapon, I kept my eyes firmly closed, channeling all my focus into that small part of me that held the ability to do this very particular job.

In the end I was in that room for 16 hours and I somehow managed not to get incredibly bored. I don't know how I knew when to open my eyes but I did and I couldn't help the enormous grin that bloomed across my face when I saw the weapon in front of me, it was a double bladed saber, metal curved up and slightly over the edge of the hilt and directly in the centre a line ran through the hilt allowing me to snap it in half, creating two dual sabers, the chain that had held my pendant had sunken into the hilt, creating an intricate, twisting pattern that collected around the base of the hilt, encircling the mythosaur, it had somehow been cleanly cut in half, the line almost invisible as it sat on either side of the hilt so that when turned into dual lightsabers they were easily recognisable as a pair. Two silver buttons sat on either lay just above the slightly indented rest for my hand and I paused for a second before simultaneously pressing them. The saber came to life, humming with pure energy, glowing a colour not unlike my masters saber but lighter, much lighter it could almost be mistaken for white but for the light purple that rested in the centre of the blade.

In truth I had never been prouder of myself and I admired the double sabers then carefully took them apart, holding one in each hand I spun them round, testing them out before I pulled them back in, not wanting to accidentally cut myself or something.

Master Windu was waiting outside, probably having sensed that I had finished. His lips were slightly upturned and that was about the most I'd seen him smile, ever. "Well let's see then," I carefully handed them over and my master nodded approvingly, "Well done, very well done indeed," He put the two lightsabers together to form a double one and nodded again, "An interesting design but one I am sure will prove useful in the future." He then pressed the button and the sabers came to life and he nodded again before retracting the blade and handing it back to me. I had begun to learn that if I got a nod out of Master Windu I was doing very well, "We will start training tomorrow, you are free to do as you please until then." I bowed, smiling and turned towards the corridors that led into the quieter parts of the temple.

Anakin wouldn't be back from training with Obi-Wan for a while and Norah was most likely with Master Plo-Koon or still putting her lightsaber together so there only seemed to be one place to go.

Grogu's room was empty, whichever master or droid that had been caring for him having left before I arrived. The little green guy was awake and babbling to himself in his crib, Master Yoda had given permission to visit him in my free time as long as it never got in the way of my learning and I had found myself spending rather a lot of time with the mischievous green goblin, although still tiny he had a massive personality and seemed to find no joy in any of the toys provided for him, preferring to babble to anyone who happened to be with him.

I lifted him out of his crib, sitting him in my lap as he squealed happily and I stroked his enormous ears, smiling at the baby, "I finished making my lightsaber little guy, you wanna see it?" His little hand reached out towards where it hung at my hip, and I let him look at it, careful to keep his fingers away from the buttons that would activate the blade. He stroked the mythosaur and babbled away, probably sensing something through the force. I stayed there for a while, playing with Grogu and talking to him about all sorts of things, I don't know if he listened or even understood but it was nice to have someone to talk to who wouldn't judge me, or I wouldn't know if he was judging me.

**Whew that took a while to write. I'm thinking we will have maybe one or two chapters of training and then I will skip to Attack of the Clones, I don't know how many chapters that will take but we'll see and then I might do a chapter for life day and I will do a few chapters for the clone wars then move on but I will come back and write more chapters on her training and on the clone wars when I finish watching it, also nearly 100 hits! Thank you so much! Xx ******


	9. Chapter Nine

And so it began.

I accompanied Master Windu on every mission he went on, he taught me how to wield one lightsaber, then how to dual wield and then how to use a double saber, I found dual wielding most comfortable but having a double blade proved useful on more that one occasion and I was one of the only Jedi I knew that managed not to sustain any serious damage to my lightsabers. I became proficient in almost every form of lightsaber combat but focused on Shien while Master Windu taught me how to push away the dark side so I could use the form he had created, Vapaad, perhaps those teachings were what saved me because believe me when I say that I fully ignored the rule that I could not form attachments, Anakin and I grew to be close friends, we formed a sibling relationship, not dissimilar from the one he shared with Obi-Wan although we were closer in age. Obi-Wan and I became good friends too, we constantly thought up comments to out sass the other, not that we ever admitted to doing that, he was not a brother to me, not in the way Anakin was, maybe he proved to be more of an uncle, the uncle that everyone sees as their brother anyway.

And Norah. Well that was complicated but we'll get to that.

I may come back to my training as a Padawan later but that part is boring compared to the rest of the story. Maybe it started when Padmé returned to Coruscant after 10 years, if it didn't start then, well it started around that time and it was the most important thing that had happened for a long time, for Anakin anyway.

Master Windu was busy with the senate issues which he claimed I would find incredibly boring and not at all useful to my training which I was honestly thankful for, he had sent me to join Anakin and Obi-Wan on whatever mission they were set next until he had finished working things out, apparently he thought it would be good for me to get a different view on the Jedi but I knew him well enough to realise that he was getting me out of a series of incredibly boring meetings, I was with Obi-Wan and Anakin often enough to know exactly their viewpoint on the world but I just so happened to be with them when they were assigned to protect Padmé from her secret assassin. Three Jedi seemed excessive but Anakin went wherever Obi-Wan went and for the moment so did I so Padmé Amidala, Senator and former Queen of Naboo and totally not Anakin's crush had three Jedi protecting her from an invisible threat.

**This seemed to be a good way to skive off having to come up with missions, my mental capacity isn't up to that at the moment but heh. I will try and get a chapter out tomorrow but it may take a while as I am going to have to, very slowly, watch Attack of the Clones so I can write the next few chapters, I won't change too much, mainly just stop Anakin from being such a whiny ass heh also 100 hits! Thank you! Xx ******


	10. Chapter Ten

Anakin was shifting round, fixing his robes and altogether looking extremely awkward. I couldn't help a small smirk as I leaned back against the glass of the elevator,  
"Someone's a bit on edge." Obi-Wan was probably smiling but I couldn't see his face properly,  
"Now now Master Kenobi, don't tease Ani, he's preparing himself so as not to look like a complete idiot in front of the love of his life." Anakin whirled on me and I burst out laughing, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Jedi aren't allowed to form attachments." I winked at him and I could tell Obi-Wan was trying not to roll his eyes,  
"We aren't falling into a nest of gundarks here Anakin, it'll be fine."  
"I did not fall into that nest master, you did." Obi-Wan did roll his eyes then but he had succeeded in putting Anakin at ease. 

A gungan greeted us as the door slid open, he was dressed in thick, heavily embroided robes and he leapt forwards when he saw Obi-Wan, taking his hands and laughing happily. I guessed this was the infamously clumsy Jar Jar Binks. He led us into a large, open room where a young woman stood looking out over the city, beside her stood a slightly taller man and they both turned around when Jar Jar called out to them. Obi-Wan and I bowed as the woman approached but Anakin stood there, staring at her. I stepped on his foot and he coughed slightly but bowed. The woman greeted Obi-Wan and then turned to Anakin,  
"Ani? Goodness, you have grown." Anakin stepped forwards and smiled,  
"So have you, grown more beautiful I mean..." He trailed off and I winced but stepped forwards, I'm not sure if I was saving Anakin or Senator Amidala but they both gave me equally grateful looks,  
"I'm Rhea, Master Windu's padawan, it's nice to finally meet you, I have heard a lot about you, only good things of course." We smiled at each other and Anakin gave me an incredulous look as we walked over to the large couches as if to say, how the hell did you do that? I just smiled at him and patted his shoulder consolingly.

The man introduced himself as Captain Typho and from the look on his face and the way he addressed us, and Senator Amidala it was obvious he was more than slightly worried for the senators safety, he seemed agitated at the fact that she did not seem to be taking the threat seriously enough but the senator was not hiding the fact that she was displeased to have three Jedi guarding her at all times, no matter that she knew two of them. The situation was made worse by the fact that Anakin felt absolutely no need to hide his feelings for the senator, something which I was sure Obi-Wan would talk to him about in the very near future.  
"I do not need security. What I need is answers." Straight to the point, I was beginning to like her.  
"Senator we are here to protect you, we have not been tasked to find your assailant. Your safety must come first." And Obi-Wan was right, we had not been told to start an investigation but the idea of not investigating made both me and Anakin uncomfortable. I of course stayed silent but Anakin... well he obviously felt the need to speak out being the dramatic utreekov that he was and having a complete inability to read the room. I glared at him but he didn't even look my way, "Master we should find the assassin, isn't it implied after all, how can we protect her if someone is constantly coming after her, it must be better to get rid of the source of the problem."  
"Anakin we will not do anything unless we have been requested too. You have much to learn my young padawan." I could see Obi-Wan clearly struggling to remain polite and calm in the presence of the senator but Anakin, being completely oblivious continued,  
"But-" I cut him off which a sharp stamp on his foot which seemed to shut him up and Obi-Wan gave me a nod of thanks. Anakin looked highly offended but he could live with it.

The senator and captain excused themselves and both Obi-Wan and I turned to Anakin, "What the hell where you thinking Anakin? Making a good impression starts with not questioning your superiors until in private." Obi-Wan stayed silent, thinking it more appropriate for me to knock some sense into him.  
"What so you don't think we should find the person responisble for an attempted assassination on the former Queen of Naboo?"  
"Kaysh mirsh solus. Of course I think we should and I am sure Obi-Wan does too but you say that kind of thing in private instead of directly confronting your master in front of others. If you had bought it up now, after the senator had left then it would have been fine but it is not okay to bring it up in the middle of a public conversation Ani and you know that."  
"I know I'm sorry. Master please forgive me and you too Rhea, it's just, she didn't recognise me. It took her noticing that I was Master Obi-Wan's padawan before she realised who I was. I have thought about her everyday for the last ten years and, well she has not." I gave him a comforting smile and was about to turn away when Obi-Wan said,  
"About that my young padawan. You must control your emtions when you are around her, it is not the Jedi way as you are perfectly aware of."  
"Yes Master, Sorry, Master."

And so began the incredibly boring wait, everyone vaguely acknowledging each others presence but awkwardly ignoring each other at the same time. Padme who obviously did not want anyone watching her had easily discovered the cameras and covered them much to Anakin's annoyance. 

**Utreekov - Idiot, Fool (literally, empty headed) **  
**Kaysh mirsh solus - He's an idiot (literally, his brain cell is lonely) **********

**********Sorry this took a while to get out, I was busy trying not to get annoyed by Anakin's endless whining heh, school starts back tomorrow so I probably won't be able to get stuff out as often, maybe once a week but we'll see. Thank you for all the support! Xx ******** ** ** **


	11. Chapter Eleven

"We've been ages, you would think something of interest would have happened but nope, we've just been sitting around doing nothing. This is not a productive use of our time." I was slumped on the couch, Anakin pacing in front of me and Obi-Wan had just come up from where he had been talking with Captain Typho, "Anakin would you please stop pacing it's annoying."  
"I don't like waiting for something to just happen, we should be out there. Finding this assassin."  
"Patience young one, we must protect the senator and we can not do that if we are out looking for an assassin."  
"Well, maybe her being here will draw this mysterious assassin to us." Obi-Wan looked at me and then back at Anakin,  
"You two are using her as bait?" I held my hands up defensively,  
"I had nothing to do with it, she was the one who convinced Ani to do it I just didn't bother to step in." Obi-Wan let out a hmph of annoyance,  
"It is not a risk worth taking, there are other ways to catch an assassin."  
"Don't worry I know everything that is going on in there, she will be fine."  
"You still have much to learn my young padawan, your senses are not as trustworthy as you think."  
"Oh and yours are Master?"  
"It is quite possible Anakin." I rolled my eyes and told them both to shut up. We waited round for a bit before I sat up, groaning, 

"I'm exhausted, come on Ani lets go get some rest, I'm sure Obi can look after the Senator well enough on his own."  
"No it's fine, I'm not tired." I actually laughed at that, the bags were far too visible underneath his eyes and Obi-Wan was thinking the same as me,  
"Are you still having those- dreams, about your Mother?"  
"I don't know why I'm having them but they- well I would much rather be dreaming about Padme." I snorted quietly and got an annoyed look thrown in my general direction.  
"Remember the commitment you have made to the Jedi Order, it is not one so easily broken." I felt an underlying sense that Obi-Wan wasn't saying something but I let him have his secrets, they were after all his own to share when he felt was necessary. They went on, Obi-Wan starting one of his long lectures and Anakin interrupting him. Regularly. Which ended up in a discussion about Palpatine. I half listened, my mind drifting in and out of focus but I felt something tugging at my consciousness,  
"Uh... guys?"  
"I sense it too." We all turned and ran towards the Senator's room. 

Anakin jumped onto Padme, slicing the weird sluggy things in half just as Obi-Wan decided to, rather ungraciously I might add, jump through the window and onto the retreating droid. Padme's maid and guards ran into the room, Anakin getting up and running past them , presumably to chase after Obi-Wan, "Oh right yeah I'll just stay here. Gods they never stop and think about anything those two." I was grumbling under my breath as I made my way over to check on R2. When I turned back around Padme had sent everyone else out of the room, "Uh if it's okay with you I will stay in here, just in case any more slugs come crawling through the window, Senator." She smiled softly,  
"Of course, and please, call me Padme."  
"Thank you, Padme. I do feel the need to apologise for Anakin's... behaviour over the last hours, he is rather... enamored by you."  
"There is no need Rhea, I have known him a long time and we have not seen each other for ten years but he will always be that small boy I met on Tatooine." She smiled tightly and I couldn't help a grin,  
"Don't worry Padme the Jedi Order forbids any kind of... intimate relationship and although Anakin is known to have broken the code on several occasions, well that is one of the most important rules. Anyway we have time to pass While Anakin and Obi-Wan go on a wild goose chase around the streets of Coruscant and stories are always a good past time. In the ten nine years I have known Anakin he has never told me the story of how you two met." Padme gave me a side smile and said,  
"Well..."

We sat there together for well over an hour, sharing stories that generally started off with Anakin being a reckless idiot and I had far too many of those stories. Padme got to know Anakin better and we both got to know each other, we had a great time even with the window being smashed open and cold air pouring in and freezing us to our bones. We ended up with hot, sweet drinks and talking about our heritage, our early life, our parents, that kind of thing and I found it surprisingly easy to talk about everything. She just had this way of making people feel comfortable and it would be hard not to like her.

Anakin and Obi-Wan eventually got back after a wild speeder chase, Anakin jumping out of a speeder during that chase and then a chase through the streets and into a bar where it turned out the assassin had been a shifter hired by a bounty hunter. I had a feeling some of the story had been slightly exaggerated but anyway they went to the council in the morning where Obi-Wan was tasked with tracking down the Bounty Hunter and finding out who they worked for and Anakin was ordered to take Padme back to Naboo and keep her safe. It was his first mission by himself and while I was proud of him I was slightly annoyed that I hadn't been given one yet. I caught up to Master Windu as he was leaving the council chamber and he let out a purposely loud sigh, "All in good time Rhea, all in good time."  
"Master you've been saying that since I turned fourteen. That was five years ago."  
"Yes and you still have much to learn," he sighed again and looked over his shoulder at me, smiling slightly, "Fine how about when young Anakin inevitably gets himself into trouble you can be the one to go and get him out of it?" I was rather surprised he actually agreed to it and I grinned, nodding and bowing as I made my way to play around with Grogu, I had nothing else to do and I had been practicing passing toys back and forth between us in an effort to stop destroying them all.

The little guys hadn't grown much in the nine years since I had met him but he had started babbling more and more and I had visited him every chance I got. Master Yoda and Master Yaddle spent a lot of time training him and other members of the council sometimes stopped by to give him a lesson on something they were thinking about, but I think he liked me best, probably because I played with him more than I trained him, I let him be a kid even if it ended in my hair being pulled out and my braid being chewed on. I had managed to stop him destroying my lightsaber thus far but he had recently discovered how satisfying it was to turn it from dual sabers to a double saber so that possibility was becoming more and more of a risk. He enjoyed it most when I talked though, he sat on my lap fiddling with a toy or just lying down as I told him stories of my most recent adventures. He could understand me clearly enough, that was strikingly obvious from the way he reacted to the stories but I think maybe telling him those stories helped him understand more.

By the time I left Grogu and went to see Anakin off Padme's new window had been lifted in and I could just makes out his incessant whining about how unfair his life was which the senator didn't seem quite sure how to respond too. I coughed quietly and they both turned to me, "Right well Ani, if you've stopped moaning about Obi-Wan then you two need to get going, Captain Typho and Master Kenobi are waiting downstairs. I smiled at Padme and turned away, letting them finish off their conversation.

While Padme was saying goodbye to Dorme I went over to join Anakin and Obi,  
"Do not do anything without mine or the council's approval first Anakin."  
"Yes Master." We all knew that wouldn't happen but Obi-Wan went off to talk with Padme and I turned to Anakin,  
"She'll never start liking you that way if all you do is complain, try actually making some nice conversation that doesn't center around you and all your problems."  
"I'm not trying anything!" I scoffed but tackled him into a hug, patting him on the back, "Do try and get into some trouble, Mace promised that if you did I could be the one to go and get you out of it and I desperately don't want to miss out on the fun." Anakin hugged me back and smirked promising to try is best.

Anakin and Padme walked off together, R2 trundling down the stairs after them.  
"I do hope he doesn't try anything foolish." We watched them go and I laughed,  
"We both know that hope is in vain."  
"I would be more concerned about her doing something than him." Master Typho sighed and we all shared a look, this wasn't going to end well. All we could hope that it wouldn't end to badly either but knowing Anakin and from what I had learned about Padme I wouldn't be surprised if they accidentally started a war.

We turned back into the ship, Obi-Wan heading off to find an old friend and get the dart that had killed the shapeshifter analysed while I went back to the Temple were Master Windu had asked me to help with the training of some younglings. 

**This is the longest chapter I have written so far but I think I will start making them longer because while I won't be doing every episode of the Clone Wars there are a fair few stories I want to explore, mainly the longer ones and it will be quicker to do it in longer chapter than to have to make you guys work through dozens of chapter just about the clone wars. ******

******Thank you so much for all the support! Xx ******** **


	12. Chapter Twelve

Norah was waiting for me outside of the room where Master Yoda was training a group of younglings, this particular class would be becoming padawans in the next few years and I was seriously wondering what the hell I was meant to be teaching them, with Norah apparently.   
"Do you have any idea what we are meant to be doing? Master Windu said to come here and he would explain."  
"According to master Koon said that we were to dual each other so the younglings could study how its done or something, I remember watching it happen when I was a youngling and I still cannot work out what the rules are." I laughed a patted her on the back,  
"Yet you are one of the best fighters we have, although I'm surprised they didn't have Anakin come in and do it before he left seeing as he thinks he is better than Master Yoda." Norah snorted and said,  
"Well Anakin, You and I are the best padawan fighters, we are pretty much equal but rivaling Master Yoda? That is a slight stretch."

"I would have to agree with you there young Norah," Master Windu was standing behind us and before I could even ask he began explaining what we were to do, "It is customary for the best padawan fighters to show the older younglings how a dual works, it was a choice between you two and Anakin but seeing as he is away at the moment you will be going against each other using a training saber," He saw the look on my face and carried on before I could complain, "Contrary to your belief my young padawan I have scars from where you have accidentally hit me with a real saber during our practices," I winced at that but couldn't help be slightly proud that I had managed to hit him, "We did not tell you until now because we want you to be as... unprepared as possible as if this were a real fight." We nodded and moved into the room, Master Yoda ordered the Padawans to one corner of the room and was probably keeping some sort of barrier around them just in case, Master Windu handed us a training lightsaber and I grumbled quietly, I was far better with two sabers than I was with one and he knew that but he glared at me and I sighed. Norah and I took off our robes and layed them on the chairs, unbuckling our belts as well, I was slightly annoyed not to be fighting with our real sabers but ah well, and I would have to think of a way to get another saber, they were stored not far from here and I could probably get one to come to me, I put my hand out behind me, half focusing on Norah who was getting ready to attack me and half focusing on bringing a training saber to my hand. She knew that and launched into a swift attack. I was defending immediately because I had no option, if I was going to win I needed to have two sabers and luckily I was good enough to only half pay attention and still be able to defend myself for a short period of time. I could see the younglings wondering what the hell I was doing and wasn't I meant to be one of the best fighters? But Master Yoda was nodding in approval and Master Windu was sighing but gave me a tiny nod to say it was okay, Norah knew she was screwed as soon as I was holding another saber so she tried her best to defeat me in that minute and she nearly, several times but I managed to push her back again and then I heard the sound of a few shocked screams and another saber flew into my hand and I grinned. I bought it up and attacked. It had been a while since I had properly fought someone or something and lord it felt good. I was moving freely and for once I could breathe. Yes I had a weakness when I only had one saber but when I had two... Norah was on the ground in thirty seconds, we were both breathing hard and we were grinning like maniacs, "Well I guess we better start planning your funeral. That was pathetic." I held out a hand to help her up and she sighed,  
"I could easily beat you if you didn't spend half your time training with the force. I swear I hardly ever see you your always off training." I let out a light laugh, making a note to myself that maybe I shouldn't be visiting Grogu so often if people were starting to notice, but it was doing wonders for my control of the force,  
"You're just jealous that I'm better than you." She gave me an unimpressed look and we turned to look at the younglings, they looked beyond impressed and one, a small Togruta female, was subtly copying the movements I had made with the dual lightsabers and doing rather well at it, I walked over to her, handing her the two lightsabers I had been using and correcting her stance slightly. She smiled up in satisfaction and I winked at her.

We stuck around for a while, the older class eventually left and the younger ones came in, Master Yoda had them put helmets on and practice deflecting tiny fire from a little orb that floated around. It was sweet seeing them all learning and Master Yoda was an incredibly good teacher. Just as Norah and I were about to leave Obi-Wan walked in, giving us a quick nod of recognition and moving on to ask Master Yoda something. We left them to it and I dragged Norah down to get some food with me, she was looking at me funny, in fact for the past few months she had been looking at me weirdly but I decided to ignore it, cheerfully flicking her shoulder as we walked away.

**This is basically a filler chapter while I wait for enough time to pass for everything to happen on Geonosis and the next one will probably be one too but I hope you are enjoying this and I'll try to get another chapter out soon Xx ******


	13. Chapter Thirteen

I had nothing to do but wait, Master Windu was caught up in meetings with the Jedi Council, which meant Master Plo-Koon was as well so the sensible option was to spend time with Norah. We had always been friends but not as close as I was with Anakin or Obi-Wan and I was glad at the opportunity to get to know her better. We trained together, teaching each other different techniques that the other didn't know and in all honesty it was great fun apart from the fact that she seemed flustered all the time which I couldn't get my head around but I put it aside, along with all the strange looks she gave me whenever I demonstrated something or the way she flushed whenever she corrected how I was standing or holding my sabers. I didn't know how to recognize that sort of thing, I probably don't even now.

We were eating lunch together, exchanging stories from our many adventures over the years when someone came running over, a youngling, telling me that Master Windu was asking for me. I nodded to him and then signaled Norah to come with me. He was with Chancellor Palpatine and a group of other Jedi, and we walked in just as Obi-Wan started talking,   
"I have tracked the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, to Geonosis, to the droid factories. The Trade Federation is taking delivery of a droid army and it has become clear that Viceroy Gunray is behind the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala. Several guilds have pledged their allegiance to Count Dooku-" He was cut off as something caused him to draw his lightsaber and he backed off the hologram as a destroyer rolled on, shooting at him. The transmission was cut off. My Master sighed and Master Yoda turned to him, "More happening on Geonosis I feel than we thought." Master Windu nodded and turned back to where Anakin and Padme where now shown. He ordered them to stay put, that we would deal with Count Dooku. He ended the transmition and I turned to him,  
"Master he won't stay put, neither will she. I could bet my lightsabers that they are about to head to Geonosis."  
"I know my young padawan, that is why you will be travelling to Geonosis right now and try to intercept them before they do something truly idiotic." I nodded and bowed, backing out of the room alongside Norah and left them to discuss whatever they had to discuss. 

"Rhea, stay safe. I wouldn't want you to die before you get your head around how to actually fight with one lightsaber." I grinned and patted her arm,  
"Don't worry, I've gotten him out of strife plenty of times. What could possibly go wrong?"  
"Yes, what could go wrong when you sneak into a droid factory under the control of Count Dooku that is full of angry Geonosians?" I smirked at her and brushed past her, saying over my shoulder,  
"Don't worry Nor, I'll save a few angry Geonosians for you to stick your lightsaber through. We can't have you missing out." She smiled at that, although it was tight and full of worry.

It wasn't long before I was in the starfighter I had taken with me on many a mission in recent years, R3 whirring and clicking from where he was sat. I would have preferred R2 to be with me but he was Anakin's droid so it wasn't often that I got to take him with me anywhere. He didn't have the personality of R2 but then again, most droids didn't. Anyway I was in hyperspace quickly enough and sat back, this could get incredibly boring especially in such a small ship with no one to talk to except an astromech who only spoke about protocols and things I didn't bother listening to. I probably wasn't going to make it in time to stop Anakin but I could definitely get him out of whatever situation he got himself into. Change that to probably. I let my mind drift, shifting into a meditative state that I had learned early on helped me clear my mind after a nightmare or before a fight and kriff knows how large this fight was going to be. The only problem was that by clearing my mind it made way for other... less pleasant memories to get through and I would rather not hear the screams of my parents. It loosened my control on that carefree, sarcastic person I had forced myself to become. Mace was the only person I had let that mask slip with not that I'd had a choice, turns out breaking down in the middle of a fight is a good enough excuse to go into my mind and calm me down which of course led him to seeing the other things. That incident had taught me to control what I let people see if they were forced to enter my mind but that conversation had been less than comfortable.

I eventually drifted to sleep and only awoke when a low beeping told me we had arrived at our destination. I switched the controls back to me, guiding the ship down onto the planet below. I found a secluded nook and told R3 to wait but if he saw something coming he was to fly the ship away so as to try and not give away the fact that I was hear. He beeped rapidly which I took as a yes and I jumped down in front of something that looked like it could be an exhaust vent. It was good enough for me and I stepped into it, trying not to think about what else it could be but apparently I was right because I found a ship from Naboo nestled at the bottom, presumably the ship Anakin and Padme had taken there. Gods knows how long it had been there but I found a hallway with a few dead Geonosians which I took as a good sign. 

The droid factory lay ahead, past a door that was wide open and from what I could see it was relatively empty but from the look of the place, even more Geonosians, I assumed a fight had taken place here not long ago. I was careful though, jumping as silently as I could onto the conveyors and avoiding anything that looked remotely alive. It looked like I was having a much easier time at this than Anakin and Padme had which I probably should not have found as amusing as I did.

I managed to find a vaguely stable spot and let my senses reach out, searching for the souls I knew so well, it was an ability that had taken me years to master but now it came with not so much as a drop of sweat. I let the force guide me through doors and hallways, avoiding any living presence that wasn't them and hoping like hell that there were no droids on patrol here because they were much harder to sense when I was distracted tracking down a soul. It took me far longer than expected and what I saw when I arrived, outside an arena no less, well it shouldn't have surprised me but it did and all I could think was that Ani must have changed his flirting techniques because, kriffing hell.

**Okay so the first battle of Geonosis is coming. I am planning for it to take place over two chapters and then we can move onto the Clone Wars which I think I am going to do one arc per season so it should be about seven chapters and maybe a few fillers thrown in or something. Thank you for all the support, it means the world and I can't wait to show you the rest of Rhea's story, it is gonna be a ride and I have so much planned Xx ******


	14. Chapter 14

I silently jumped into the back of the cart that they were in and coughed awkwardly which broke off their kiss quickly enough. The few Geonosians jumped forwards and they just conveniently happened to have another pair of handcuffs on them, it was at that point when I realised this probably wasn't the greatest idea I had ever come up with but the looks on Anakin and Padme's faces was enough for me to forgive myself, I leaned for quietly and whispered,  
"Well this is sufficiently awkward," I could see they were panicking and let them stew for a few seconds before I sighed and said, "I'll keep your secret as long as I'm invited to the wedding and you name a child after me."  
"Deal." They spoke at the same time and looked at each other slightly alarmed at the fact that they had both just agreed to marry and have kids. I grinned and casually leaned against the side of the cart as we were wheeled forwards, I was trying to keep my robed hiding my lightsaber which the Geonosians had forgotten to take off me, it was slightly awkward having the hilts connected, it banged on my leg a lot but it also meant I didn't look too suspicious having my entire robe wrapped around me like a cocoon although considering that the Geonosians probably had cocoons given that they looked like exceedingly ugly moths I wouldn't be surprised if they found it normal. 

We were driven around to where three columns awaited us, Obi-Wan already strung up on the fourth one,  
"What in the blazes are you doing here?" He hissed,  
"We re-transmitted your message and then we thought we would come and save you." Obi-Wan glanced up at his cuffed hands and rolled his eyes, muttering sarcastically,  
"Good job," He looked over at me then and asked, "And you Rhea? I thought you were on Coruscant with Master Windu?"  
"Well naturally I came to rescue Anakin but I got uh... sidetracked and, well here we are." He let out yet another sigh, it was a wonder he hadn't run out of breath to sigh at us with over the years.

I caught sight of Padme slipping something into her mouth which reminded me to focus on keeping my lightsaber hidden while my hands were lifted up above my head and attached to a long chain. Did these guys not realise how much use you could get out of a chain? Di'kuts. Once we were all strung up like meat fresh for the picking the leader of the Geonosians shouted something which got the crowd screaming which could only mean they were about to kill us. What a fun lot. Four doors began to slowly grate open and I glanced back up to where the Geonosian leader was standing, a really old man was standing next to him and I could only assume he was Count Dooku which explained the handcuffs and extra monster they happened to have on hand, he had probably sensed my presence as soon as I had arrived but I didn't exactly have much time to think on it seeing as four hideous, and very hungry beasts were being guided towards us. The best thing to do was wait it out, kind of. If i drew my saber to early they would call for back up before we could get the upper hand and then we would be screwed so I let them charge and didn't pull out my saber, we were going to have to do this the old fashioned way.

Padme had already made her way up her column and was carefully balancing on it, getting the chain ready to use as some sort of whip on the nexu that was charging towards her, Anakin was preparing to jump on top of the reek and Obi-Wan had managed to get free of his chain by using the acklay's pincers and was now playing a game of don't get stabbed with it. I refocused on the anooba racing towards me at full speed, I ducked out of the way of its first attack and aimed a kick a its eye which only ended with me getting teeth in my leg. I grunted in pain as a was thrown off to the side and lay on the ground panting and wincing, seriously thinking about just stabbing it but I was distracted by Padme shouting out, the nexu having just raked its claws along her back, I winced slightly but she recovered quickly enough and my attention was shoved back to the anooba as I just managed to roll out of its way. I stumbled up onto my feet and focused on getting my hands out the the cuffs, it was an easy enough task with the combination of the force and strength but I paused slightly longer to send out a signal through the force, calling for Master Windu to get a move on which got responded to with a grumpy silence.

I managed to keep dodging the anooba's attacks but I had stupidly left the chain attached to the column so that was no longer an option for a weapon. Anakin and Padme were now riding the reek and the nexu lay dead on the ground, when that had happened I had no idea but it allowed Obi-Wan to get away from the acklay but they didn't have time circle round and get me because a group of destroyers rolled out which was definitely cheating on behalf of the Geonosians but luckily it got me away from the anooba as I was herded into the circle the droids had formed around the reek.  
"Aren't you meant to be one of the best fighters in the Jedi Order?" I couldn't tell if Anakin was joking or not,  
"I'm pretty sure my foot was amputated by that kriffing thing so you can shut it." He laughed quietly and I glared at him some more however before I could come up with a suitable response I saw my Master walk up to where the Count was watching, he ignited his lightsaber at the Bounty Hunter's throat and probably had a super dramatic conversation with him that ended with several lightsabers lighting up all over the arena. I sighed in pure relief and then let a savage smile settle on my face and lowered my hands to where my own lightsaber was and let myself fall into a mindset that let me kill things. It wasn't a nice place to be and it certainly did not help me sleep at night but it also felt undeniably good at the time and just as the the other Jedi jumped down into the arena I let myself go. I ignored Anakin's furious questioning as to why I hadn't used my sabers sooner and let the chaos devour me. 

**Di'kut - Idiot, useless individual, waste of space ******

******Whew okay we are nearing the end of this film which is fun and I'm still figuring out what is going to happen during TCW, RotS and beyond that but I've got quite a bit of stuff planned out and I have been writing out a few scenes from later in the story. I'm probably going to cry while writing some of it but yeah. As we do move into TCW please be patient as I cannot make it through a season a week and I am only on season 3 at the moment so I probably will not be able to release chapters weekly but I will certainly try. Thank you for your continued support and all the views, it means so much Xx ******** **


	15. Chapter 15

It didn't take Norah long to find me and we smiled at each other before turning around, backs to each other as we turned to face the endless hoard of droids marching out into the arena. They were ridiculously easy to cut down, you would think Count Dooku would invest in some strong sturdy droids that didn't collapse at the touch of a lightsaber but apparently the thought hadn't crossed his mind however the droids weren't the only problem, if you could call them much of a problem, the geonosians had all sorts of weapons and they also happened to be hungry for blood, Jedi blood apparently. 

We fought our way through the chaos, I'm not sure where we were going or if we were going anywhere at all but we carried on all the same, trying not to think too hard when we saw the fallen body of a Jedi, I recognized them all and although I couldn't name them all or say that I had ever talked to some of them I still mourned. The galaxy believed Jedi were great warriors who couldn't be killed and I would give a lot to make it true, especially in moments like this. Norah and I paused for a moment and I saw Master Windu and Obi-Wan fighting back to back until a very angry looking reek came charging towards them, pushing Obi-Wan to the side as he began charging towards my master, I made to move forwards but Norah put a hand on my arm, stopping me, "Rhea he will be fine, we need to get moving, these droids aren't going to kill themselves." I shrugged and smiled as we began moving again,  
"Oh I don't know they don't exactly seem to be built for battle, you could probably poke one and it would collapse." Norah snorted and we grinned again as we ran straight for a group of droids. It took us less than a minute to cut them all down and we stood there panting for a second and out of the corner of my eye I saw Master Windu beheading the bounty hunter, Jango Fett. None of us knew it at the time but that one action was gonna bring us a whole lot of trouble later on.

We made our way over to where Anakin and Padme were crouched in the shell of an overturned cart, similar to the one that had taken us into the arena in the first place,  
"How's it going?" Anakin turned sharply at the sound of my voice and let out a relieved sigh when he saw us,  
"Oh you know how it is, aggressive negotiations and all." I smirked and ducked down next to him, winking at Padme and Norah came down as well offering a greeting to the Senator.   
"You guys ready to go back out?" The sheer number of droids were overwhelming the remaining Jedi and it just seemed wrong to stay crouched in the vaguely protective cover of the cart. Everyone nodded and we got on the move again, deflecting bullets as we made our way over to the other Jedi who were now being herded into a tight circle by the ridiculous amount of droids. Obi-Wan was crouched beside the limp body of a Jedi I barely recognized and he gave us a solemn nod as the droids pulled their guns back, letting their leader make his dramatic speech.

"You have fought gallantly Master Windu, perhaps even worthy of recognition in the Jedi Archives. Surrender now and your lives shall be spared." I laughed at that, it was a nice way of putting 'you will be tortured and used as hostages to be bartered for.' Master Windu seemed to think the same and he said it loudly, without hesitation. This ended up with guns being pointed at us again and I sighed, readying my sabers and hoping to the gods that Yoda had managed to reach Kamino with time to spare because if not we would be in a whole lot of trouble that would most likely get us killed but the gods seemed to hear me because almost immediately after I thought it the drone of ships approaching filled the air and we all looked up to see what could only be Clone gunships bearing down on us. They swooped into the arena and all the droids aimed their fire up towards them.

The ships formed a circle around us and we all clambered to get onto them as the clones fought off the droids, buying us time to get out of there. I climbed up with my master and gave Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme a salute for good luck as the ships lifted off the ground, carrying us away from the arena and into what I suppose was the battle that started the Clone Wars.

The clone piloting the gunship set us down and Master Windu, Master Mundi, Master Fisto and I got off and walked over to a group of clones. The gunship took off again with Yoda still inside and I sent a silent plea to the force to keep him safe. A clone with yellow armor was talking to Master Windu who nodded and signalled for me to follow him,  
"Keep behind me Rhea, do you understand? You are not to get yourself injured in any way or you will be pulling library duty for a month."  
"I'm not sure I have much choice over whether I get injured or not-" The look on his face shut me up, I knew he was only trying to protect me so I just nodded and said, "Yes Master Windu."

I'm not sure I can quite explain what happened, how it all felt. It went by so fast and yet it seemed to go on for hours. Every time a clone trooper fell I had to force myself to carry on, to not look back at his limp body. So many died in that first battle and it wasn't even a fraction of the number who died over the next three years and it broke my heart every time but each time I forced myself to keep moving, to cut down more droids and hope that someone managed to get the one that had killed the trooper.

I guess in a way I zoned out, I pulled myself away from my body and let the reflexes I had spent a decade cultivating take over. I didn't fully come back to myself until the droid army retreated and the fighting stopped, maybe not even until we came back to Coruscant where I met up with Anakin and Obi-Wan. Ani had managed to loose an arm which I probably shouldn't have found as amusing as I did but even he had to admit the robotic one they gave him was pretty cool, I even managed to convince Master Windu to allow me to accompany Anakin as he escorted Padme back to Naboo under the guise that there was a war going on and Anakin hadn't had time to train with his new arm which may make him vulnerable. I'm not sure he believed me but I was allowed to go and definitely not partake in the wedding of my closest friend and the former Queen of Naboo. Even if we were happy for a few days the underlying truth still haunted us the Clone Wars had begun and no one knew the cost of it or what would come at the end of it all. Only time would tell and in this case I would rather time had stopped altogether.

**I am so so sorry that I didn't post last weekend, I had loads going on and just forgot but I hope this was a good chapter and I've spent the week planning what I want to do with Rhea and I have been a little too obsessed with wandavision lately which got me thinking on the multiverse. I personally love Rhea as a character and would love to integrate her into more stories and worlds which I love just as much as Star Wars so I have been thinking on writing several fics with her in different worlds and it will take a long time but I really like the idea and will definitely be working on it so let me know what you guys think. Different versions of Rhea in different realities working with some of my favorite characters and maybe even one day the different versions of her could meet, possibly through whatever will be happening in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Of course you guys don't need to read any of the other fics with her in it but yeah, I've been slightly obsessed with the X Men lately, particularly the stories from Last Stand through to Dark Phoenix so I've been working out a way to put her in there which will hopefully be pretty awesome. ******

******As ever thank you for the support Xx ******** **


	16. Chapter Sixteen

The war didn't start slowly, it didn't wait for anyone to prepare, no, after that first battle it was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly everything was happening all at once. Anakin, Norah and I were made into Jedi Knights not long after Geonosis, Master Windu and Obi-Wan said it was because we had proved ourselves worthy but we all knew that was a lie, they needed more Generals for the war and the Jedi Knights and Masters were Generals while the Padawans were Commanders, and only a few at that. Apparently we were skilled enough to become Jedi Knights but I couldn't help but wonder if it was rushed, if we were really ready but we had little choice. The ceremony was quick and we were given little time to get used to our new role. Anakin and I got command of the 501st, Master Windu and Master Yoda didn't quite trust him to do it by himself which he found highly offensive and I desperately tried not to find amusing however I wasn't with him all the time, I also helped command the 212th and the 187th legions, Obi-Wan's and Master Windu's respectively.

Almost as soon as Anakin became a Knight Obi-Wan put in a request for a new padawan, something I found odd considering that he had never not had a padawan in his time as a Jedi Knight and I would think he would want to catch a break after dealing with Anakin for ten years but that seemingly wasn't the case. The Jedi Council agreed with me though, well I would assume they did because they gave the padawan to Anakin instead of to Obi-Wan. Master Windu told me that I was to make sure his new padawan didn't get too influenced by Anakin's ways and that he and the rest of the council hoped it would tone down his recklessness and teach him patience and to help him grow. I didn't bother to point out that I wouldn't exactly be a good influence on any young Jedi either but it worked, kind of, he did stop being so self centered and slightly more patient although I don't think you could say he grew any less reckless seeing as we broke the Jedi code every few days.

We were fighting on Christophis when the padawan arrived, none of us were expecting her and I definitely wasn't expecting her to be the togruta I had helped out a few months prior with dual saber combat but seeing the look on Anakin's face when she said she had been assigned to him made that entire battle so so much better and by the end of it Ani actually decided not to complain to the Jedi Council and Obi-Wan looked slightly less worried at the thought of Anakin having a padawan. Of course as soon as he had accepted Ahsoka I immediately began begging him to get her dual lightsabers, she had show promise that day and he said he would think on it, of course he did eventually get her a second saber and I ended up teaching her which caused us no end of laughs and problems but I was happy that our little family was growing because no matter how much we denied it we were a family, Anakin, Padme, Obi, Ahsoka, 3PO, R2 and I, even a whole hoard of clones, especially Rex. The Jedi Order may have rules against it but no one can stop loving just because they are told not to, that lack of understanding was one of the bigger reason we lost the war, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

There are too many stories to tell in the time and space we have, I was there with Anakin for the majority of the war, sometimes with Master Windu so if you know the stories then you will know what happened and I will just tell a few of the more exhilarating and interesting tales and I'll try not to take up too much of your time because there is a lot more of this story to come after the Clone Wars.

**I'm on half term break now so I should have more time to write but please be patient as I am only about half way through the Clone Wars and I'm working my way through them slowly but steadily, I will try and release new chapters as often as I can but it may take longer. Thank you for all the support and if you want to check out the new fic I am writing about Rhea in the world of the X Men then it is called The Mutant Link Xx ******


	17. Chapter Seventeen

There are many places I could start, hunting down General Grievous, R2 going missing, being captured by pirates, becoming stranded on a planet with weird little monkey people when Anakin was hurt, perhaps even the virus that nearly wiped out entire planets. The list goes on but as I said before we have limited time and only so many of those stories can be told before we must move on so I will head straight back to where this all began, Geonosis.

The second battle of Geonosis was brutal and long but it is a good story. Our forces were spread thin, desperately searching for Grievous, we were loosing support, planets were turning on the republic and the Geonosians had a new factory, ray shielded and creating thousands upon thousands of droids. We were outnumbered, clones weren't like droids, sure they were better but they also took years to get out onto the battlefield and we didn't intend for this war to go on that long but droids, they could be pumped out quickly and easily, they weren't as good at fighting as clones but if there were enough of them we could become overwhelmed very easily. The Jedi Council had decided that we needed Geonosis and we needed to destroy that droid factory and so they launched an invasion, and a massive one at that.

I went with Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi-Mundi and we waited for Anakin and Ahsoka to arrive before we started anything, they were of course late but that was no surprise. I gave a small smile to Ahsoka as she and Ani walked up to us and I got a sly grin back, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to have Anakin train her, she was taking after him. A lot.  
"Sorry we're late Master, we were routing the separatists near Dorin."  
"My squadron had 55 kills."  
"Yeah well mine had 76." I grinned and patted them both on the back,  
"Not as good as last time. 'Shoka I bet you one hundred credits you can beat Anakin's count by the end of this." I got a huge smile for that,  
"Deal." We shook on it and Obi-Wan sighed,  
"We are not betting on who gets the most kills, this is not a game."  
"Too late Obi, we already shook on it." I just received an extremely annoyed look and a very loud sigh, one he only reserved for Anakin, Ahsoka and I,  
"Oh and to add onto the deal, if you succeed I'll give you a lesson on dual wielding." Her eyes lit up at that and she nodded,  
"Are you trying to make me loose this Rhea?"  
"Obviously, I live to see you fail." I winked at him and Obi-Wan interrupted,  
"That is enough of that, we need to take Geonosis if this war is to grow any shorter." Anakin nodded and turned to his padawan,  
"Contact Outer Rim command, we are ready for our briefing."  
"They are ready and waiting."

The holograms of Master Windu, Chancellor Palpatine and Master Yoda were already waiting for us, Obi-Wan did the majority of the talking, probably a good idea seeing as Anakin and I weren't exactly good at listening,  
"We are ready to begin, all of our ships are in position."  
"Good, any news of Poggle? Do you have a location on him?" Obi-Wan nodded and brought up another hologram for my Master, or former Master I suppose, to see, "We believe he is hiding away in the main droid foundry. It is protected by a shield generator, Anakin, Ki-Adi, Rhea and I are going to attempt an attack from three directions and join together at a staging area just outside the shield where we will land and take out the generator."  
"Isn't it risky? Sending in four of your generals to just one area of the attack? If something went wrong... we cannot afford to loose you." Master Yoda turned to look up at the Chancellor and for some reason the look they gave each other gave me chills. It wasn't a nice look and it certainly wasn't friendly. I suppose the galaxy was trying to give us signs that something was wrong, signs we would ignore until it was said straight to our face.

"Capture Poggle we must if to take Geonosis we are." The Chancellor inclined his head towards the small green Master and I could see a slight sneer form as he ended the debriefing but I didn't have much time to think on it as Rex, Cody and Jet came forwards to finalize the plan. Obi-Wan zoomed in on the rendezvous,   
"Cody, these are the coordinates."  
"Yes Sir, we will create a perimeter around the area when we hit the ground, getting past their defenses," he indicated to a small section of the map, "Will be the hard part. General Mundi will lead an attack on their defensive lines from the north, we will make the assault in the middle and General Skywalker and General Keldau will lead the attack on their defensive lines from the south and we will all get to the rendezvous point by 0700. Exactly." We all nodded in agreement and Ki-Adi said,  
"Should we be met with strong force and are forced away you must hold out until we join our forces before you attack." The three Clone's nodded and Ahsoka spoke from where she was standing next to Anakin,  
"They are very well protected. Look there, that giant wall won't be easy to get by." Anakin nodded but put a reassuring hand on her shoulder,  
"No need to worry about it as we will not be going anywhere near it." We could only hope that would hold true.  
"I thought you desperately wanted a fight?" Obi-Wan smirked at Anakin who just grinned and put an elbow on his shoulder,  
"We will be fine Master, I do worry about you though. Do try and get to that landing zone in one piece though."  
"No need to worry Anakin, I shall be waiting for you once you arrive." I leaned forwards to look at him,  
"Or maybe we will be waiting for you." Ki-Adi sighed and shook his head and Master Luminara interrupted and told us to go get ready.

Obi-Wan set off first and I went with Anakin and Ahsoka to where Rex was waiting, the gunship lifted off as soon as we stepped on,  
"We're going to have to get a move on if we are gonna beat Obi-Wan to the landing zone." I'm fairly sure Rex sighed when I said that although he had gotten good enough at covering his sighs over the past few months of working with us. I just winked at him and tried not to think too hard about the canons firing at us which ended up backfiring because almost as soon as we were out in the open we were hit and sent crashing to the ground. I blacked out for a second but managed to get myself up to help Anakin push open the door and help the clone troopers out and we weren't given a break, droids started firing the second they say us. Ahsoka stayed with the clones while Anakin and I ran forwards, deflecting blaster fire and cutting down droids as they passed us, it was quick work and the clones quickly followed behind us. Well I say quick work, we managed to clear a path to a small ridge we could hide behind and get away from the canon fire while we hopefully waited for Obi-Wan to send back up,  
"General Skywalker, General Keldau,"  
"Yes Rex?"  
"Any news on whether Obi-Wan can send reinforcements?"  
"I've just spoken with Cody, he says that General Kenobi never made it to the landing site, they believe his gunship was shot down."  
"Great. Just great. The one time we actually need help-"  
"Kriffing hell Anakin don't start, we don't know if he is injured or not okay? We need a new plan." I knew he was only acting like it because he was worried but now was not the time, "We'll rush the guns, Rex, gather the men."  
"Yes sir."  
"Anakin, Ahsoka with me. We need to give the men some cover and before either of you say anything I'm sure Obi-Wan is perfectly alright." I wasn't sure about that, I mean it isn't like I can use the force to look over at the area around the landing sight and check on him but isn't the entire point of comforting people lying to them to make them feel better?

Rex came back moments later with the men and we all put Obi-Wan's fate out of our minds as we made jumped up from where we had been crouching and ran straight into the line of fire. Anakin, Ahsoka and I tried to deflect as many of the blaster bolts as we could so that the men could fire on the Geonosions but we couldn't get all of them and the screams as they fell will never stop haunting my dreams, even if I live for a thousand years. We got past them fairly quickly, leaving far too many bodies behind us but we couldn't stop to think on it as we pushed forwards and it was times like these I thanked the gods for the times Master Windu had made me continuously run ridiculous lengths for stupid amounts of time because boy oh boy if he hadn't then I would have been left far behind the rest of the group seeing as both Anakin and Rex seemed to hold steady to the belief that we needed to run everywhere but in all honesty the massive walled fortress that stood in our way was more of an issue than my problem with running was, you know, the one that Anakin said would be no problem? Ahsoka brought it up as soon as we managed to get behind a rock which had to lead into an argument because come on, this is Skyguy and Snips we are talking about, they had more of a sibling relationship than most siblings had. I ended up waving a hand between them,  
"Snap out of it guys and get ready, we're going climbing. Well you two are going climbing. I am staying down here." They both rolled their eyes but Rex found some thermal detonators and handed them a backpack of the explosives each,  
"Right all you need to do is cover us and we'll do the rest."  
"Yeah Anakin, we know. I came up with the plan, now get a move on before these droids actually come up with something cleverer than just continually blasting us."

I took a deep breath and connected the hilts of my lightsaber together,  
"What are you doing General?"  
"Not everyone has a rock this big protecting them and I can't exactly sen their bolts back at them from behind here. Keep firing at them." Rex nodded and leaned around the rock to take another few shots at the droids before ducking back again. I saluted him and I could tell he was smiling slightly under the helmet as he saluted me back and then I probably did one of the stupidest things I had ever done, at least that was what Master Windu said later when he heard about it.I just stepped out from behind the protection of the rock and started spinning my saber, blocking bolts, deflecting them back up at the droids if I could and I slowly made my way over to the group of clones on the other side of the canyon who were getting cut down like stalks of grass. I don't know how I didn't die, it nearly happened a good few times but I hit a good few droids and I saved a whole bunch of clones so I would call it a day well done even if I did get shot through the arm. Gods that sounded casual, I still have the scar although I'm not sure I could tell you where it is, I've got a lot of scars from doing stupid things over the years. Force healing doesn't work on yourself, probably because it is too selfish or something. Who knows, I never actually asked but yeah, I got shot in the arm which was a pain, both physically and just as a hindrance to the mission and it was just a whole lot better when I found out the med pack was over with Rex because, I mean of course it was so I just stayed crouched there with some very concerned looking men and I ended up using the force to slightly adjust the direction of bullets away from any troopers. Thankfully a lot of blaster fire was redirected at Anakin and Ahsoka who were having an easier time not getting shot in the arm, probably because they had the high ground and not because deflecting blaster bolts really isn't up there in my list of top ten skills with a lightsaber. No I spent most of my spare time learning cool but useless tricks, overly complicated spins, the kind of thing I've probably on actually used once or twice in a fight but I never actually thought I would be in any big fights so you can't really blame younger me.

Once Anakin and Ahsoka got on top of the wall they made quick work of the droids and all we had to worry about were the massive blaster canons inbuilt into the wall but Rex was doing a very good job of knocking them out and when he snuck off to help Anakin and Ahsoka out I managed to deflect a few of the bolts back into them but by that point I was feeling slightly faint but seeing Rex being thrown off the wall made me feel a lot better even if it was a story he used on the younger clones to tell them the uh... more interesting things that came from working with the Jedi. Ahsoka started clearing a path with the help of the remaining clones while Anakin brought that med pack over to me and injected me with something that looked far to blue to be healthy and then wrapped the wound up. The injection did clear my head up and dull the throbbing pain enough for me to actually be useful and he pulled me up off the ground as we restarted our trek towards Obi-Wan who Cody had found in the middle of Anakin and Ahsoka taking the wall down.

We ran into Ki-Adi along the way, he was on a cliff above us, overlooking the landing zone which was in the midst of an incredibly tense looking battle and Anakin contacted Admiral Yularen to ask for a fighter squadron at most, a request he granted us and I couldn't help a sigh of relief as the fighters swooped in, taking out the droids and Geonosians as they went. We moved forwards and found Obi-Wan who was slouched down against a pile of crates, I collapsed right next to him,  
"Looks like we're both injured."  
"What happened to you?"  
"Shot in the arm. You?"  
"Turns out a crashing ship isn't always nice to you. How did you managed to get shot?"   
"Reckless act of bravery." I winked and he sighed and brought up a hologram, cutting me off before I could elaborate and the clones gathered round,  
"We should be strong enough to destroy the shield generator together, Anakin take a small group through the shield and get as close as you can to their gun emplacements where you will be able to jam their scanners for a short time so they cannot target our tanks which will destroy the generator. After that is done Master Mundi can bring in the remaining forces and the gunships." Anakin and Ahsoka nodded and went off to get their squad together.

Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi went back up to the cruiser but I stayed with Anakin and Ahsoka, much to everyone's distress but there was absolutely no way I was missing out on this, besides I had waited days before a med droid could heal a wound on previous missions, I would be fine. Master Windu had made a point to teach me how to fight with only one hand when I was fifteen after I broke my arm during a podrace with Anakin when I forgot that he had been podracing since he was a kid and tried to win against him. It was a bad idea that got me helping out Jocasta Nu in the library for six months and I wasn't allowed any free time to hang out with Grogu which broke the little guy's heart. He was annoyed at me for the rest of the year. I'm going off course from the story, sorry about that.

Master Luminara and her padawan, Barriss Offee, were sent down to help us out, apparently this job wasn't going to be easy. Three fully trained Jedi and two padawans was a big risk, as the Chancellor had said but in this case I guess even he had yielded and rightfully so. Even with our extensive training we wouldn't be able to outlast the hundreds of thousands of droids sitting within that factory if it was only Anakin, Ahsoka and I but still, they could have sent someone... less I don't know, Jedi like. She was so a part of the force that she came off as unfeeling I guess. There was just something about her that made me ridiculously uncomfortable.

Ahsoka was leading everyone through the second phase of the plan, with, Anakin being a pain and interrupting every few seconds, I ended up stomping particularly hard on his foot which got him to stop and actually let Ahsoka talk and once she had finished she smiled at me and I winked and leaned backwards on the stone as the clones left,   
"You know Anakin it might be helpful if you, I don't know, actually let 'Soka do the briefing instead of interrupting and embarrassing her?"  
"Thank you Master Keldau," I made a face and she sighed slightly, "Sorry, Rhea. Do you not trust me Master?"  
"What!? No, of course I do but it isn't about that, it's about getting the job done, and correctly." I rolled my eyes and patted him on the back,  
"Nicely said Ani, nicely said." I made my tone as obviously sarcastic as possible which was pretty much the only way to actually get him to understand what he was saying, he wasn't exactly good at reading the room. Ahsoka shook her head and turned away and I gave her a comforting smile and slapped Anakin's arm. He was going to have to get better at the whole training a padawan thing.

Luckily Luminara and Barriss arrived just in time to see Anakin hit me back which was just great and I flipped him off before going to greet the Master and her padawan and tried to distract them from the argument that had very suddenly started up between the two Jedi behind me,  
"Sorry about them, actually sorry about all of us, we all have a tendency to be uh, not very Jedi like. They'll get tired of it soon enough."  
"Well unfortunately they are going to have to get tired of it now, we have a droid factory to destroy," She aimed that last part at Anakin and Ahsoka who stopped sniping back and forth at each other and came over to greet Luminara, "How very nice of you to join us. Now Barriss, are you not going to introduce yourself." Her padawan nodded and turned to Ahsoka and actually curtsied,  
"I am padawan learner Barriss Offee." Anakin and I shared a look, clearly both of us were remembering the joint lesson we had once been given by Obi-Wan and Master Windu where they had tried to teach us the padawan etiquette or something, it hadn't gone well and in the end they both just gave up. Ahsoka looked incredibly uncomfortable and just stuck out her hand and said,  
"I'm Ahsoka. It's nice to meet you." Clearly Anakin hadn't bothered with the whole etiquette thing but honestly Barriss looked quite glad to not have to be so formal.

We ran them through the plan which Luminara was not a huge fan of but she of course had a backup plan and no matter how annoying I could find her I have to admit it was good and probably saved a whole lot of lives that day. There were a series of catacombs beneath the droid factory, the junctions of which she had gotten Barriss to memorize. The two padawans would make their way through the catacombs and plant bombs inside the factory while Luminara, Anakin and I kept Poggle's attention at the bridge. I didn't like the idea of Ahsoka going through those catacombs with Barriss, just the idea of her getting lost or hurt was horrible and Anakin looked even unhappier with me but Ahsoka obviously wanted to do it so I agreed to the plan and gave Anakin a look to say shut up. We synchronized out chronometers and then Barriss and Ahsoka set off, shouldering their packs full of bombs. We all watched them go and tried not to think too hard about all everything that could happen to them. 

Once they were out of sight we turned back to R2 who once again brought up the hologram of the factory,  
"Well, lets go get slaughtered I guess," That comment earned me a look from Luminara to which I only just managed to not roll my eyes, "Marching straight up to the droid factory is the best, and most dangerous way to draw their attention. A lot of men are going to die." Anakin nodded,  
"Well I guess it has to be tempting enough to get him to come to us." And so we began, marching our way towards the droid factory, followed by tanks and heavily armed troops. We were all silent which just made it worse but then what was there to talk about? The plan worked though, the heavy doors that barred the way into the factory lifted open and droids began marching out, enough that I could feel the rising tension in the men behind me,  
"They just keep coming, gods how fast are they making these things?"  
"As long as it's not as fast as we can destroy them then we will be just fine." That simple logic made me feel a whole lot better even if it wasn't technically the truth.

The droids started firing seconds later and we ignited our lightsabers, the men raising their blasters behind us. We had no cover, nothing to stop those bullets hitting the men apart from three Jedi and four lightsabers but we ran forwards anyway, taking droids down left right and center. I ended up connecting my lightsabers into the double saber to stop putting stress on my already wounded arm and I ended up just using the force to push a bunch of them back, you couldn't exactly call the things sturdy, they broke down if you hit them too hard but they weren't our only problem, a massive group of Geonosians that had been hiding away just above us suddenly came swooping down, it made things slightly more difficult but in truth if that was their surprise attack it hadn't worked very well and we kept moving forwards, well that was until several tanks came rolling out of the factory, ones that could withstand blasts from our canons. Ray shielded tanks which were annoyingly hard to destroy, luckily our chronometers flashed green, indicating that the bombs had been placed and we ordered the clones to fall back as the tanks began to fire, a way to draw them onto the bridge. It was Anakin's idea and pretty clever, even if it meant having to hang underneath the bridge, something I wasn't an enormous fan of but it worked, the bombs detonated, the bridge collapsed and the tanks fell along with it. With the bombs about to go off any second we probably should have gotten out of there but Ahsoka and Barriss were no where in sight and there was no way either Anakin or I was going to leave the two padawan's to die. Anakin started trying to get to her through comms but he got no reply. We looked at each other, the worry clear on both of our faces but we didn't have time to think too much, not when the doors opened once again and even more droids came marching out. We couldn't beat them not on our own but we carried on cutting them down as we waited for those bombs to go off, for Ahsoka and Barriss to get out. I didn't hear the conversation they had over comms, I only saw the pain in Anakin's eyes as the factory exploded and we were forced to run.

Once the tidal wave of sand and stone stopped Anakin tried to get Ahsoka on the comms again and again as we looked out over the rubble yet Luminara didn't seem to be panicked in the least as she knelt and closed her eyes,  
"Be at ease Skywalker."  
"At ease? What are you talking about we need to be out there looking for them, they may still be alive!"  
"We have no time, they are drifting away, I can sense it."   
"What the kriffing hell is wrong with you? Your padawan is down there Luminara. I don't care if you feel her drifting away, we have a chance to try and find them and you are just going to walk away?" My outburst was interrupted by Rex arriving to tell us that the tanks were ready to start moving debris and Anakin nodded. Once he had gone off to give the order Luminara turned to me,  
"I care for my padawan but if her time has come... as the Jedi Code says, we must not form attachments. You must understand that if it is their time then you must let them go." I shook my head and turned away. Yeah maybe that was why I never liked her, she was to willing to let things go, she didn't seem to want to fight for what she wanted.

I began to lose hope and I could see it fading from Anakin's eyes as well as the minutes passed and still we found nothing, that was until we both picked up a pulse on Ahsoka's comm channel. Luminara, Anakin and I both rushed over to where it was coming from and closed our eyes. Bringing over the heavy machinery would take too long and so we all closed our eyes and slowly began lifting the debris with the force, it was tiring work and we only managed it because there were three of us but we found them. Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi came back down from the cruiser while Ahsoka, Barriss and I went back up. The fighting had not been particularly good for my arm and I finally gave in and went to seek proper medical attention. Obi-Wan, Luminara, Ki-Adi and Anakin took charge of finding Poggle who had managed to escape during the fighting, how Anakin was still on his feet I'll never know and while I usually would have wanted to be down there with him I'm glad I wasn't for this particular mission, it didn't sound at all fun. Brain worms, zombies and crazy Geonosian queens aren't exactly my kind of fun and I am so desperately glad I was not there when Ahsoka and Barriss had to deal with them.

**This has taken such a long time to write and I am so sorry for the long wait, I promise I haven't given up or anything it is just going to take a while to write these arcs and I do apologize if I miss out ones you like and stuff, Rhea is part of almost every arc in the clone wars, at least the ones with Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Mace but I am just picking and choosing which arcs to do purely based off which ones I enjoyed and I don't plan on doing loads of them as I do not want this to drag out forever and I want to get to the more interesting parts of this story where I can go slightly off course from the plot. I have a ridiculous amount of plans and I hope you are enjoying where this is going, thank you so much for all the support. It means the world, it truly does. ******


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